Monthly Archives: April 2013

Bertie vs. Mr Brown

Posted on April 27, 2013 by Ingrid Tieken

The film Mrs Brown (1997), featuring Judi Dench and Billy Connolly, includes an interesting scene from the point of view of prescriptivism. At one point (ca. 50 minutes into the film), Bertie, the Prince of Wales, addresses the pertinent Mr … Continue reading →

Posted in usage features | Tagged Judi Dench, Mrs Brown, Queen Victoria, who vs. whom | Leave a comment

Poetry and Usage Advice

Posted on April 22, 2013 by Cynthia Lange

More word-related news on April: it’s also National Poetry Month. Here’s a link to frequently asked questions about National Poetry Month. I’ll provide a quick summary as well. It was founded in 1996 by the Academy of American Poets, and … Continue reading →

Posted in events | Tagged English usage, National Poetry Month | Leave a comment

April is Bibliotastic

Posted on April 15, 2013 by Cynthia Lange

Spring and libraries: what do these things have in common? Besides being beautiful and making life more enjoyable, spring and libraries also share April. This month is National School Library Month in the U.S. Today also kicks off National Library … Continue reading →

Posted in events | Tagged attitudes to usage, English usage, libraries, National Library Week, Schreiner Memorial Library | Leave a comment

Out with whom, in with the split infinitive

Posted on April 11, 2013 by Morana Lukač

One of our blog authors recently tackled the “whom issue”, and it made me wonder if this word is really dying out. Our readers will also remember several posts featuring the split infinitive, the pedants’ pet peeve. I have decided … Continue reading →

Posted in usage features | Tagged Brown corpus, corpus, langauge change, LOB corpus, pet peeve, split infinitive, whom | 5 Comments

Which online sources on language use do you consult?

Posted on April 9, 2013 by Morana Lukač

In 1995, Deborah Cameron made an observation which was years ahead of its time: “[The Internet] is an ideal arena for swapping linguistic trivia and debating matters of usage”. By now it is more than obvious that Cameron was right; … Continue reading →

Posted in polls and surveys, usage features, usage guide | Tagged Deborah Cameron, language blogs, online sources, survey | Leave a comment

The more merry the merrier?

Posted on April 7, 2013 by xhlo

Over coffee today a Dutch friend of mine told me how surprised she had been when listening to a radio station the other day and hearing the phrase ‘… meer prominente plekken’. The context was a radio broadcast on the … Continue reading →